Hey everybody,

I'm formulating my plan of attack to apply for schools next year, and I'm concerned that my poor undergrad performance will be a problem with getting into the top-ranked schools. But what about lower ranked (2nd, 3rd tier schools?) I was thinking about these:

Definitely UC Davis and UC Irvine, because I'm from California, but also,

Michigan State University Broad
University of Iowa Tippie
University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Tulane University Freeman

Anybody have any insight?

Well, what do you mean by "poor"? Are we talking 2.0 GPA or what? And what was your major? Where did you go? These are all factors that will be taken into consideration. A 3.0 in basket weaving from a no name school is quite different than a 3.0 in engineering from Stanford. Also, how much work experience do you have? If you only have two or three years, admissions committees will look heavily at your undergrad performance. If you've been out for 5+ years, it won't be a huge issue. (The farther away from undergrad the better, in your case.) You can have a poor undergrad performance but blow the GMAT out of the water and have great work experience and get into a top ranked school....happens all the time.

Hi there, thanks for getting back to me... By "poor" I mean my GPA was 2.7, it was basically a liberal arts degree from a state (California) school.

I've got 12 years of experience in retail sales, seven of those are as a store manager, so I think in that sense my application is rounded out... Although I haven't taken the GMAT yet. I'm still preparing for it - it's a bit strange having been out of school for so long and having to do this stuff again...

Well, what do you mean by "poor"? Are we talking 2.0 GPA or what? And what was your major? Where did you go? These are all factors that will be taken into consideration. A 3.0 in basket weaving from a no name school is quite different than a 3.0 in engineering from Stanford. Also, how much work experience do you have? If you only have two or three years, admissions committees will look heavily at your undergrad performance. If you've been out for 5+ years, it won't be a huge issue. (The farther away from undergrad the better, in your case.) You can have a poor undergrad performance but blow the GMAT out of the water and have great work experience and get into a top ranked school....happens all the time.

It's great that you have so much experience. As I said, the farther away from undergrad, the less your GPA will matter. That being said, get prepared to do some explaining in your essays. If you worked during college, had personal family issues to deal with etc, definitely bring that out in your essays to help explain why your GPA suffered. Without having taken the GMAT, it's hard to predict your chances of getting into the schools you've listed. Study, do your best, put together strong essays/recommendations, and don't get too caught up in the GPA. There is no such thing as a perfect application, and you're looking at reasonable schools. Good luck!

Thanks for the insight.

Yes, I am preparing to do some explaining, because of the GPA and especially why I've been out of work for the past year... I'm already "working" on it, volunteering, taking classes, etc.